


Harry's Not So Good Life

by leontina (Leontina)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 08:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1545056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leontina/pseuds/leontina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy Lupin has the magical ability to do whatever he wants to do, and that includes sending people who don’t like him to the cornfield. But Harry still loves Teddy, because that’s what godfathers do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harry's Not So Good Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written from [Prompt #34](http://hp-darkarts.livejournal.com/67791.html?thread=895951#t895951%0A)
> 
> This is based on the episode ‘It’s a Good Life’, from the Twilight Zone. Harry’s last line mirrors one from the episode.

***

 

“I think there’s something wrong with Teddy.”

 

Those words echoed in Harry’s head as he sat, staring unblinkingly, while Aurors bustled around the house.

 

Andromeda Tonks had fire called only two hours earlier, shouting out desperately with that haunting phrase which would not leave Harry alone.

 

Harry had hurried over to Andromeda’s home, finding only Teddy sitting at the kitchen table drawing scribbles on a piece of paper. For a moment, everything seemed normal – but then Harry noticed the bloody hand print on the wall, and the tune Teddy was humming suddenly seemed too cheerful and out of place. 

 

Harry had asked Teddy where his grandmother was, and Teddy had replied that she had been sent to the cornfield, and then asked if he could have some ice cream.

 

Harry had been shakily squeezing strawberry sauce onto Teddy’s ice cream when Ginny had appeared and called the Aurors round. 

 

The Auror in charge had taken Teddy aside and asked what happened, and Teddy had told the man that “Grandma didn’t like me, so I had to send her to the cornfield.”

 

Of course, Teddy had most likely been bewitched, because there was no way a six-year old could have made his grandmother disappear. Harry had distantly heard a bang when Andromeda had fire called him, and at the time Harry had presumed it was Teddy, but it must have been the intruder. 

 

“Harry?” Ginny’s voice called, filtering through Harry’s thoughts. “The Aurors said we can go home with Teddy now. Mum says she’ll have James for the night – he’s already asleep, so I’d rather not disturb him.”

 

James was three months old, and loved by the entire family. Teddy, especially, adored the infant, and Harry hoped that spending time with James would help Teddy forget the night’s events. 

 

***

 

“Grandma won’t be lonely anymore; I sent Healer Graham to the cornfield too,” Teddy said proudly as he left said Healer’s office, where Harry was waiting in a seat by the door.

 

Harry stared blankly at his godson. Teddy had been sent to see a Healer to check for curses or hexes, and also for a psychiatric evaluation – Ministry instructed – and hadn’t even been in the room for five minutes.

 

“The cornfield?” Harry repeated slowly. Was Teddy still cursed? He had been staying with Harry for three days now, and seemed happy and safe enough. Had whoever attacked Andromeda attacked the Healer too? Was the real target Teddy?

 

“Yes,” Teddy answered with a small smile, sliding his small hand into Harry’s. “He didn’t like me very much, so I had to send him away.”

 

“Why do you think he didn’t like you? There’s nothing not to like,” Harry tried to reassure the boy, although his heart seemed to be pounding slightly more than normal. 

 

“I could hear what he was thinking about me,” Teddy told Harry seriously. “He thought I was a bad boy, just like Grandma did. I’m not a bad boy; I’m a good boy.”

 

“Of course you are, Teddy,” Harry smiled, dropping to his knees to look his godson in the eyes. “You’re not bad at all.” 

 

Merlin, what was going on? The way Teddy was talking reminded Harry of the young Tom Riddle that he had seen in the Pensieve. But even if Teddy wasn’t cursed or anything, if the eleven year-old Tom had been loved, he might have never turned into Voldemort, and Harry himself always swore he wouldn’t let his kids grow up unloved like he had. Loving Teddy unconditionally was part of the deal, and Harry swore to uphold it. 

 

“Thank you, Harry,” Teddy grinned, and despite his desperate confusion, Harry felt happy to see the genuine affection and love in Teddy’s eyes. “That’s why you’re my favourite.”

 

***

 

“Teddy, James was sleeping; you can’t just wake him like that,” Ginny shouted above James’s cries, rocking the baby in her arms. 

 

“I only wanted to play,” Teddy answered angrily, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at Ginny.

 

“He’s too little to be playing,” Ginny said. “I’ve told you before; you’re old enough now to learn how to listen. You’re turning into a bad-”

 

“Ginny!” Harry interrupted, hurrying into the room as he heard the conversation between Ginny and Teddy. “Teddy didn’t mean it. Look, Teddy, how about me and you play instead so James can get some sleep? Then you can see him when he’s a bit happier.”

 

“Okay,” Teddy said cheerfully, but he sent a lingering glare at Ginny as they left the room.

 

“Ginny doesn’t like me,” Teddy moaned once they were in the living room, and his box of Legos fell from the shelf to the floor entirely on its own.

 

It had been a week since the disappearance of Healer Graham, and there had been no more mentions of a cornfield, but Harry had noticed a distinct level of accidental magic in Teddy. If it could even be called accidental – everything Teddy did seemed to be planned, like when the dog barking next door suddenly found its mouth glued shut, and when the ice cream in the freezer flew out and scooped itself into a bowl. Plus there was the mind-reading that Teddy seemed able to do; Teddy couldn’t have learnt Legilimency at his age, so perhaps he was some sort of Seer, but being a Seer didn’t explain everything else.

 

“Of course Ginny likes you,” Harry told Teddy, mindlessly building something with the plastic bricks. 

 

“She doesn’t; she was thinking it,” Teddy replied, and Harry shivered at the sudden chill that overtook him. 

 

“I’ll talk to her about it,” Harry stated, trying not to show his concern. He didn’t believe that Teddy was bad, of course, but the people who did think so seemed to end up disappearing without a trace, and he didn’t want that to happen to Ginny. She would just have to hide her thoughts, at the very least, just to be safe.

 

***

 

Harry stared as the weather outside the window changed from a heavy downpour to bright sunshine.

 

“So we can go to the playground now?” Teddy asked hopefully, already running to pull his trainers on. 

 

Harry had just told Teddy that they couldn’t go out because of the weather, and Teddy had simply replied that he would make it sunny – then it was. 

 

“Err,” Harry answered stupidly, blinking at his godson. “I mean, sure, I guess we can.”

Teddy whooped, and Harry’s shoes flew through the air to land on the table in front of him. “Come on then, Harry; I want to play.”

 

Harry hadn’t yet mentioned anything about Teddy to anybody else, but he was starting to wonder if he should. If Teddy could change the weather…

 

“Please don’t tell anyone, Harry. Is it bad to change the weather?” Teddy asked softly, looking at Harry with worry on his face.

 

“Of course not, Teddy,” Harry answered quickly, giving his godson a reassuring smile. “It’s good to be so talented.”

 

***

 

“Teddy! I’ve told you a million times!” Ginny shouted, ignoring the wails of her son. “Don’t wake up James!”

 

“Ginny, leave it,” Harry said firmly, hurrying into the room to gather James in his arms. He rocked the baby gently, trying to get him back to sleep. 

 

“No, Harry; he needs to learn,” Ginny argued, crossing her arms. “Teddy, it’s naughty not to listen to me. I know I’m not your godmother, but you have to do as you’re told.”

 

“I wanted to play,” Teddy said sullenly, glaring at Ginny. “I don’t like you.”

 

“Teddy…” Harry said warningly, but the atmosphere in the room seemed to tense, and an icy chill passed over him. He knew, then, that he had to get Ginny away, because he didn’t trust Teddy at all. “Come on, Teddy, let’s go and get some ice cream.”

 

“Harry, he’s not getting ice cream,” Ginny stated, turning her glare to him. “Teddy has been a bad boy, and bad boys don’t get nice things.”

 

“I am not a bad boy! I am good, and you are bad,” Teddy shouted, and Harry knew what was going to happen. James was screaming loudly, as though he knew, too, and there was no time for Harry to put James down to reach his wand. 

 

And then a breeze brushed through the room, and Ginny was gone – to the cornfield, Harry knew. 

 

“Teddy!” Harry shouted, anger taking over his body and mind, but then he saw Teddy smiling at James.

 

“We can play now, Jamie,” Teddy said to James, walking over to Harry’s trembling form to hold James’s tiny hand. “That mean lady won’t be around anymore. Why are you shaking, Harry? Are you cross at me?”

 

“No, Teddy, I’m not cross,” Harry said, and it was the truth. He was in shock and despair, yes, but he wasn’t angry anymore; he couldn’t be, for James’s sake. “It’s good you sent Ginny to the cornfield, real good. Without her, tomorrow will be a good day, too.”

 

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